How to transform stale bread and fruit that is past its best into delicious dishes

Tom Hunt puts some over-ripe bananas to good use (Picture: Juliana Vasquez)

Even though 800million people go to bed hungry each day, the scale of global food waste is gargantuan.

Watch activist Tristram Stuart’s TED lecture on the subject for a powerful 15-minute breakdown on the ways in which farms, supermarkets and factories are ‘haemorrhaging’ perfectly edible foods into the rubbish dumps.

Half of the food we throw away in Britain comes from our homes. The good news is that we now bin 21 per cent less edible food than we did six years ago. In terms of carbon emissions, that amounts to taking 1.8million cars off the road for a year, according to recycling organisation Wrap.

But the edibles we waste each year are still enough to fill Wembley Stadium to the brim at least five times.

The average British household throws away almost £60 of food a month, with the most commonly wasted items including salad, vegetables, fruit, bread and milk.

Love Food Hate Waste is a great website to find tips on how to cut down on how much you bin. Planning is key, so you don’t buy more than you need – but sometimes it’s all about finding inventive ways to use something you’ve already got.

We tasked our food editor Chloe Scott and sustainable chef Tom Hunt to create recipes that turn over-ripe fruit and stale bread into taste sensations. Feeling inspired? We’d love to hear about your creations and will feature the best recipes in Life&Style.

Send recipes to life@ukmetro.co.uk with ‘eco girl’ in the subject.

Use up stale bread by whipping up a panzanella (Picture: Oli Jones)

CHLOE SCOTT’S PANZANELLA-STYLE GRILLED BREAD SALADThis is a delicious way of using up stale bread with soft, juicy tomatoes, a nudge of garlic and some fennel (in season now). The salad gives a polite nod to Tuscan panzanella, although the recipe below is unashamedly inauthentic.

Any old bread will do – sourdough, brown bread, white, ciabatta. This isn’t a prescriptive recipe: feel free to swap the basil leaves for fresh coriander or parsley, or experiment with rosemary, thyme and even your favourite spices.

Likewise, you can add more bread or other vegetables such as roasted butternut squash. Just give it a little time to soak up all the tomato juice.

Don’t waste those over-ripe bananas. Use them to make tasty cakes (Picture: Juliana Vasquez)

TOM HUNT’S MINI BANANA AND CHOC CHARLOTTESThese are very moreish little desserts. It is a great way to use up stale bread, which becomes caramelised and crunchy and soaks up the chocolate – scrumptious. Over-ripe, blackened bananas give an extra fruity-sweet filling.

Method Step 1: Preheat the oven to 200C. Next, mash up the bananas and add the chocolate pieces. Mix the butter and sugar together. Spread on to the slices of bread.

Step 2: Cut the bread to line the walls of eight to ten muffin moulds, sticking the bread to the sides with the butter. Overlap the bread slightly and press together to form a seal. Leave the bottom of the mould free. Cut tops from the leftover bread.

Step 3: Fill each bread mould with the banana mixture, leaving space for a bread top on each. Press down firmly. Bake in a hot oven for about 20min until they bubble and become a bit crispy on top.

Step 4: Be patient and allow to cool. Run a knife around the edge and carefully prise each one out with a spoon. If they fall apart, don’t worry! Just place back together. Serve with cremè fraîche or yoghurt. These will keep for four days if covered in the fridge.